Free
by The Feisty Rogue
Summary: "Those aren't Inferi!" James yelled, sprinting back up the path to Hogwarts, desperate to get as far away from the border of the wards as possible. The… creatures had surged forward at the sight of him, arms outstretched, mouths gnashing mindlessly, screeching at a pitch that grated on every inch of his nerves. ZombieApocalypse!AU


**Monthly One-Shot Exchange for Sophy (The Crownless Queen)**

Pairing: James/Lily/Sirius, Genre: Romance, Angst, Word: Ecstasy, AU: Zombie Apocalypse

Assignment #7 Transfiguration: write a fic from the POV of someone in some form of captivity

Extra prompt: 3. "You're pretty cute for a monster,"

Around the World in 31 Days: 3. Animagus

 **Free**

* * *

 **Day One**

"Those aren't Inferi!" James yelled, sprinting back up the path to Hogwarts, desperate to get as far away from the border of the wards as possible. The… creatures had surged forward at the sight of him, arms outstretched, mouths gnashing mindlessly, screeching at a pitch that grated on every inch of his nerves.

"I know!" Lily snapped, her mouth sent in a thin line. She was standing, hands on hips as she watched the hoard that threw itself at the front gates, a frown upon her face. "They're zombies."

James stood by her, panting from the run. Absently, he noticed that in the mad rush to escape the train, he'd lost his Head Boy badge… not that it mattered any more. After all, it wasn't as if there were any students left for him to be the Head of.

They were all dead… or worse.

His hands were shaking as the reality of that truth struck him. "Sirius," he stuttered, taking a step forward. "Peter… Remus…"

Lily grabbed his shoulder, and shook him, hard. "The only reason we escaped was because we were the first ones up here, making sure the dorms were ready for the firsties. They're dead, okay – do you understand? So don't even think about doing something stupid," she hissed.

James' heart pounded in his chest harder than ever before. "No," he denied with a croak. "Don't say that."

"Look!" Lily snapped. "Just look!"

He stared out at the mass of bodies before them that hadn't even been frightened away by the crackling of the wards. Usually Inferi would shy away from fire, but these… 'zombies' didn't care, continuing to surge forward even as they burnt, no matter the heat of the flame. The dead were indiscriminate and ageless, clothing torn, Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin robes alike joining those wearing the silver masks of Death Eaters, and the simpler robes of the Hogsmeade residents. The bodies piled up against the gates and the shimmering wards that had thankfully been automatically activated, and James had to swallow down his nausea as he realised they were beginning to stack upon one another, creating a squirming wall of bodies that wasn't alive, but certainly wasn't entirely dead either.

But then, something truly fantastic happened. A black blur sped over the bodies, too fast for them to catch, and actually managed to squeeze through the gates. Lily was already casting spells to kill – a _Reducto_ nearly blew Padfoot's leg off before James knocked her wand arm aside.

"Don't!" he cried. Lily turned to him, with fire in her eyes fierce enough to match the brightness of her hair.

"You better have a bloody good explanation!"

Padfoot morphed seamlessly into Sirius, and collapsed to the ground. Despite the fact that Sirius was obviously their friend, Lily yanked James back when he made to run toward him.

"Stay here," she snarled. She stalked forward, stopping well out of reach, and cast a barrier ward.

"Black! Open your eyes, and show me you're not foaming about the mouth, or have a mind to tear out my throat."

At this, Sirius shivered, before pushing himself to his knees, gasping for breath. His eyes opened slowly, crusted with blood as they were, and a tear trickled down his cheek.

"Moony's dead, and Wormy, too…" Sirius said, and hunched over his knees. He began to sob. "Dead… and I couldn't save them."

At this, James dashed forward, ducking under Lily's warning arm and smashing through her ward. He wrapped his arms around his best friend of seven years, and held him as he cried.

If James cried too, well, nobody needed to know.

Nobody other than Lily, who eventually drew closer, and rested a reassuring hand upon both of their shoulders, silently commiserating in their misery, misery that she clearly felt too.

* * *

Eventually, the shrieking of the dead grew too much even for James. "Let's go inside?" he suggested, throat raw.

Sirius jerked his head in a nod, despite it still being buried in the crook of James' neck.

"Good idea," Lily said. She sounded weary.

James looked up, and realised that her eyes were red-rimmed. She glared at him defiantly, daring him to say something about it, and despite it all, James had to bite back half a smile. Some things never changed; Lily Evans would forever be a firebrand.

Together, Lily and he managed to get Sirius inside. By now, he was barely responsive, and James didn't want to know what Sirius had seen, how he'd managed to escape the heaving mass of zombies that had been waiting to ambush the students at Hogsmeade Station, not if it reduced Sirius; brave, brilliant Sirius, to a shell of the man he was before.

James' gut lurched as he considered what had happened. The creatures had been held back by a spell… they'd been waiting for them… someone had intended for all of them to die a gruesome half-death.

"James," Lily whispered, and when James looked up, he realised that she was exhausted, barely able to hold Sirius up. Grimacing, James withdrew his wand, and levitated Sirius' body the way he would do if he'd been physically injured.

"Gryffindor Tower?"

Lily nodded, and they traipsed up the stairs. Even the castle was empty, the professors having been drawn into the village to help save the students, and had never returned. All that was left was the occasional ghost, and the portraits that eyed them warily.

Luckily, the Fat Lady only pursed her lips before allowing them entry to the tower. James hadn't even considered that they might need a password until they'd reached the portrait and she'd watched them with unusually sharp eyes.

" _Incendio_!" Lily suddenly cried, startling James, and even Sirius flinched. A fireball burst from the tip of her wand to land in the fireplace, lighting up the room with a warm glow. She swiftly conjured a stack of logs to rest beside it, levitating one on top of the already stacked coals, and then drew close, sitting before the flames on crossed legs.

James hesitated, unsure of his welcome, but desperately unwilling to retreat further away from the warmth of the fire to go up to the dorms, and even more unwilling to leave alone the only other person that was alive, barSirius. Then Lily curled up even smaller, her face in her hands.

"Don't go," she whispered, and that was that. Instead, James lay Sirius out on the coach, and transfigured a rug into several woollen blankets. He tucked Sirius in, and grabbed another to wrap around himself and Lily, daring to place an arm around her waist.

To his surprise, Lily leaned her head on his shoulder. They sat like that, staring into the fire, as the sky grew dark outside, and eventually James' eyes drifted closed.

* * *

 **Day Seven**

"No food!" Sirius called, sounding surprisingly cheerful for such a miserable result.

Lily was still attempting to break into Dumbledore's office, determined to find something useful where the library had failed her, but James was now beginning to look at the practicalities – namely, most of the food in the kitchen was extremely perishable, and none of them were any good at preservation charms. The house elves had long fled, terrified of what lay outside Hogwarts' walls.

There was a distinct noise that James recognised as the clink of bottles, and James pulled his head out of Merrythought's trunk to find Sirius brandishing two bottles of Firewhiskey.

"Oh no," James murmured. Of course Sirius had managed to find booze in lieu of anything actually useful.

"Oh yes," Sirius said, his eyes twinkling in a way that they hadn't since the day the world as they'd known it had ended, a hint of mischief hinting at a joke that only he knew. James was so relieved to see that the man who could find humour in any situation was still somewhere inside him, despite being long hidden by dull eyes and joyless smiles, that he couldn't even bring himself to argue. After all, it wasn't as if Lily would even think to let them.

"Keep on searching," James instructed, trying, and failing, to sound authoritative.

Sirius smirked. "As you say, Prongsykins," he teased, his mouth quirking into a handsome grin. James hastily looked away, but knew that his blush had been spotted anyway.

* * *

Lily took one look at the bottles of whiskey Sirius was brandishing, and nodded decisively.

"An excellent idea," she declared, and swiped one, cracking the seal. James gawked at her until she arched a delicate brow. "You'll catch flies, looking like that. Are you really so desperate for some protein?"

James' jaw snapped shut, Sirius' echoing him. Still, he stared as Lily took a long swig, before collapsing into a sofa in the Gryffindor Common. The cushions were so large they looked like they might swallow her.

"Albus Dumbledore is a bloody fucking genius, and there's absolutely no way we'll be getting anywhere near his office," Lily said. She sighed, leaning her head back against the cushions.

"Err…" Sirius said, and scratched his head. "What?"

Lily looked over at them, rolled her eyes, and then patted the sofa. "Come on then, boys. I'll not exactly bite."

All three of them winced at exactly the same time. In reluctant dribs and drabs, Sirius had relayed how the newly name 'Infected' would pass on their illness; just like werewolves, only faster and more fatal. They tore apart their victims with their teeth, and any shared saliva and blood meant a possibility of infection. Lily had been right to have been wary of Sirius when he'd first arrived, as potentially Infected he may have been.

James cleared his throat, and snatched the other bottle of whiskey out of Sirius' hand. He gulped down a long swig, and then coughed and spluttered to clear his throat of the fiery burn. Both Lily and Sirius treated him with incredulous looks.

"What?" he asked defensively. "It's spicy!"

Sirius barked a laugh, the tension fading. "You've been schooled by a girl, Prongs," he said lazily, and took the bottle back, taking his own more reasonable sip. James was chagrined to realise that neither Lily nor Sirius had struggled to drink it.

"That's how it's supposed to be… isn't it?" James asked. "Dad always said, when you're young…" he trailed off as he was met with identical looks of mirth.

"On maybe your first ever sip," Sirius said with a snort. He took another swig, and laid back, propping his feet up against the arm of the sofa while settling his head in Lily's lap.

"You really are a dog," Lily said fondly, stroking Sirius' hair. Sirius preened under the attention, shamelessly lapping it up. James was almost jealous. He stole a drink, then stood, clearing himself some space from Lily's endless mess of notes.

"Watch," he said with a grin, and transformed into a stag.

All at once, he felt distinctly trapped. He'd never transformed inside before, and the skittish nature of the deer wanted to do nothing more than to run, break free, to explore the woods it knew so well with its strange, absentee herd.

James forced himself to change back, and stalked over toward the window. "Fuck," he whispered. The stars were bright, but distorted by the shimmer of the ward that protected the entire castle. Beyond that, he could see more and more infected piling up against the wards, taking their turn to try and break through. Was their flesh really so appealing, or was it something else that drew them so desperately toward the castle?

Or… and he shuddered to think of it… perhaps they were the only living beings still alive, at least in this part of the world. It wasn't as if they could leave to find out, trapped as they were within the perimeter of the ward.

He turned back to find the two people he loved most in the world watching him with warm eyes and extended hands, and abruptly felt foolish for having ever been jealous of either of them. He loved them, and he knew that they loved him, at least on some level. That was enough for him.

"Oh, get over here, you idiot," Lily eventually said, crooking a finger at him. James drew close, unable to walk away, and unwilling to. She reached up to grasp his chin, and pulled him down into a gentle kiss. James gasped into it, and clutched at her wrists, delicate beneath his clumsy hands.

With an abrupt tug, he tumbled onto the sofa, pressed chest to chest to Sirius. "Go on, Jamesy, I dare you," Sirius said, eyes dancing with mischief, and licked his lips. Lily's hands stroked up James' back, a soft, caring reassurance, and James groaned, and leaned forward to meet Sirius in a kiss that was pure ecstasy. Sirius' lips were chapped and his pace was slow, and tentative, but gaining intensity with each second.

"Now, now, don't forget to share," Lily scolded, but he could hear the laughter in her voice. James pushed himself up, panting, and Lily slid between the back of the sofa and their bodies to steal Sirius' lips for a kiss. James couldn't bring himself to look away, even as his body trembled with joy at the sight of the two of them together.

In that instant, they were happy, and in that moment, they were safe.

* * *

 **Day Fourteen**

"I can't do it!" Lily cried, and dashed her hand against the wall. James captured the injured fist, brushing a kiss across the scraped knuckles, and exchanged a tired look with Sirius. Sirius closed his eyes, leaning back against the stone wall.

"It's okay," James whispered, and pulled Lily into a hug that she tried to fight. She squirmed, before sighing and relaxing against him. Her frustration was understandable. After all, they were asking her to do something that everyone had claimed to be impossible: become an animagus in two weeks, instead of two months.

Warm tears soaked James' shirt, but when Lily eventually withdrew, her face was dry, and her expression determined.

"Again," she said, turning back to Sirius. "Let's do it again."

Sirius cocked his head, eying the two of them together. James bit back a groan. If Sirius made another joke about sex, Lily might just castrate him.

"You're working too hard," Sirius decided.

"Of course I am!" Lily snapped. "After you foolishly risked your life, it wasn't as if I was just going to sit around doing nothing."

Sirius had risked everything for a gambit that might very well have been the death of him. He'd noticed, trying to escape the chaos of Hogsmeade Station, that none of the Infected had paid much attention to the dog barging his way through the masses. Four nights ago, he'd gone back down to the gates and tested his theory.

The Infected had barely noticed him in dog form. If they were Animgi, then they could escape.

Sirius had the grace to look abashed. "I know Lils… I'm sorry. But you'll never find your inner self if you don't relax and allow it to come to you."

Lily huffed, then took another calming breath. She closed her eyes, popped the infusion of mandrake they'd made onto her tongue, hoping to find a way to speed up the month-long meditation process, and then she settled, shoulders relaxing, face smoothing out as she lost all the tension in her body.

"That's my girl," Sirius whispered under his breath, and shot an awestruck grin at James. James returned it, and shuffled over to him.

"How much food have we got left?" James murmured.

"Not enough."

They both fell into an easy, if tired, silence. There was little else for them to do, lest they interrupt Lily. The castle and grounds had already been scoured for food and other possible routes of escape. They had found little, and what they had had been long devoured.

The sky grew dark, and the chittering of the creatures that surrounded the wards grew louder. Despite the fact that fire had no effect on them, they were still more active at night.

"Do you think anyone's alive?" James asked. The thought had been plaguing him since the moment that he'd shut the gates to Hogwarts behind him in an attempt to keep out the rest of the world.

"I don't know. I hope so," Sirius said. His head lolled, resting on James' shoulder, and James reached out, twining their hands together.

"I hope so, too. Maybe there's a place for us to go, free from Infected, to just be."

"Be together, that is," Sirius joked.

Lily's voice interrupted their tired musing. "Let us hope."

Her eyes were open and gleaming with excitement. "I'm a cat," she said. "An ocelot!"

James grinned. "I'm so proud of you."

Lily blushed. "Oh, shove it."

"Time for that ruddy potion now," Sirius said. He yawned, stretching. "Good thing I brewed it last night."

James stared at him. "What?"

"Sirius!" Lily exclaimed. "We only had the ingredients for one potion!"

"I knew you could do it," Sirius said with a nonchalant shrug that belayed the bitter anxiety he'd shown James. Lily looked caught between hitting him, and kissing him. James solved that problem by settling himself in Sirius lap, biting gently at his lips.

"Not much food… you meant none?" he said quietly. Sirius met his gaze with a flat stare.

"Less than."

"Oi, you two, less canoodling, more working!"

Lily grabbed them by the ear, and tugged them to their feet.

"You're pretty cute for a monster," Sirius grumbled. "Mauling my ear. You're practically half feral already."

Lily arched a brow. "Oh, yeah?" she purred, and stroked a hand down his chest. "Am I perhaps… a wild cat?"

Sirius stepped forward with a delighted grin. "Oh, I hope so," he responded.

"Me too," Lily said. She smirked. "And the best way to find out is to take that potion. Where is it?"

Sirius groaned. "You tease. It's in the boy's dorm, if you must know."

Lily stalked away from them after one last smug smile.

"She doesn't need the potion. She's already catty enough," Sirius grumbled, but he was smiling. James stared dopily after her retreating figure.

"I think I'm in love," he murmured, then shot Sirius a shy glance. "With both of you."

Sirius flushed bright red. "Oh, er…" he scrambled for something to say, "thanks?"

James burst into laughter. "Useless, you are. Come on, let's go see how Lily's getting along."

* * *

It turned out that an ocelot was a cat about half a size larger than the average house cat, and Lily's markings were ginger with white socks. She seemed entirely too pleased with herself, curled up on Sirius' bed, until Sirius asked the dreaded question.

"Can you turn back?"

This prompted half an hour of panicked yowling until Lily eventually managed to shock herself back into human form by falling off the bed.

"Well, I'm glad we got that sorted out," she said, dusting herself off and refusing to meet their eyes. James laughed, and ruffled her hair.

"You've done it once, you'll do it again," he reassured her.

"At least you didn't get caught in a tree like Prongsy here," Sirius joked. "We nearly had to call Minnie down to the Forbidden Forest, and wouldn't that have scuppered our plans."

James shoved Sirius, and smiled, bittersweet. Perhaps it was unrealistic, but he hoped that McGonagall had escaped, and perhaps managed to save a few others, too. She was the kind of woman who would do anything to protect her students.

"So," Sirius said, suddenly solemn. "It's time."

The next hour was almost anticlimactic. They slipped through the gates, barely disturbing the Infected, and James counted himself lucky that his antlers had not yet grown fully in. They ran and ran and ran, all warily watching each other for signs of Infection, but wordlessly agreeing to get as far away from their self-imposed prison as possible. Finally, it was Lily who grew tired, not used to running for miles in a form not her own. She changed back when they stopped for a drink at a stream, and collapsed to the floor with shaky legs.

"We made it!" Lily said, voice high, on the edge of hysterics, and laughed. James shifted back, drawing his wand as a precaution, and wrapped an arm around her waist to ground her. Lily sighed, and leaned into him, stifling a hiccupping sob in his shoulder.

"We made it," he agreed, unable to hide the relief in his voice. Padfoot trotted over, and playfully licked Lily's cheek before shifting back himself. Sirius chuckled as Lily recoiled with a muttered "gross!", before stealing a quick kiss from both of them.

"We made it," James repeated, breathless, almost unable to believe it as he realised what they'd done.

Sirius grinned, his smile sharp, but the expression upon his face lighter than James had seen since it had all begun. "We made it," he agreed. "And we're free."

* * *

Word Count: 3513


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